The use of organic rankine cycle (ORC) systems for applying available geothermal energy to the generation of electricity is a known concept, with a particular apparatus for accomplishing this being described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,174,716 assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
Such a use of geothermal energy for generating electrical energy causes a gradual depletion of the available geothermal energy. That is, even though some of the energy removed for the process may be returned (e.g., water is removed at higher temperatures and replaced at lower temperatures), there is necessarily a net loss in available geothermal energy as it is used to power the organic rankine cycle system. Accordingly, the users of such a system prefer to remove as little water from the ground reservoir as needed so as to thereby extend the life of the geothermal reserves.
Geothermal sites are typically located in remote areas with sufficient open space around the area of the ground water site. Such an area would therefore allow for the installation of other structures that could be used to supplement the energy being provided by the geothermal sources. The applicants have recognized that solar energy could be used for that purpose.